We always speak facts and numbers here in the SE “Medical Procurement of Ukraine”. Facts and numbers are stubborn things, and it’s not easy to manipulate them. Today's briefing of the Minister of Health of Ukraine Maksym Stepanov was devoted to the work of our enterprise.
We decided to fact-check the key statements of the Minister. As a result, it revealed that 3 of them were manipulation, and one of them was not true.
Let’s proceed.
Maksym Stepanov, “The MOH conducts negotiations directly with top manufacturers... I emphasize that we have been conducting negotiations since May 2020… I can say that in the nearest future we will sign other agreements as well with companies that will supply vaccines to Ukraine.”
This is not true.
The countries that started their negotiations on vaccine procurement in the summer, has already began vaccinating their citizens in the end of December 2020 – at the beginning of January 2021. If Ukraine actually have started negotiations in May, we would have definitely have vaccines now. 9 months is more than enough to negotiate and place an order, especially since this procurement is not covered by the Law of Ukraine “On Public Procurement”. The contracting period for vaccine manufacturers ranged from a few weeks to three months in most countries, from the start of the negotiation to vaccine ordering.
Here are some examples.
3) Germany, Hungary, Slovakia started their vaccination campaign before the New Year.
And now all the above mentioned countries count the percentage of the vaccinated population.
By the way, in Latvia, the country, where the Minister of Health was recently fired for unsatisfactory preparation of the country for vaccination, a vaccination campaign has already begun.
There are arguments in the media and social networks that Ukraine is not on the list of leading countries; that there are no funds; we are not the first in line, etc. However, we claim that our state had all the tools and opportunities to compile a portfolio and order the leading vaccines in 2020.
Unfortunately, these negotiations were concentrated within the walls of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.
Maksym Stepanov, “By his conjectures and statements, the author (General Director of the CPA) discredits our country to the international community. With these posts, he really started to worsen our position in the negotiations”.
Manipulation.
Discrediting the country's image is the lack of concrete decisions and actions in cooperation with counterparts, as well as the imitation of frantic activity with no real steps. In particular, one of the manufacturers warned of a possible withdrawal from the negotiations because he had been waiting for too long for the Ministry of Health's decision on procurement (negotiations had been underway since the documents were finalized in the 3rd decade of December, since then the manufacturer had not received any information from the Ministry of Health). The key negotiating position in the purchase of vaccines is clarity in the formulation of expectations from the counterparts when concluding contracts. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine did not have such clarity and still does not have it.
Maksym Stepanov, “The suspended operational activity of the CPA allegedly due to the termination of funding from the Ministry of Health is another fake… Of course, there is no delay, the company is operating normally. The financial plan of this enterprise ... was approved on December 10th and transferred to the CPA. As for the budget program passport ... they are approved after the budget is adopted. The budget came into force on December 28, 2020. Immediately after that, documents are being prepared, and passports of budget programs are accepted. This usually happens in January - until the end of January, sometimes later. Depending on the program”
Manipulation.
The financial plan discussed at the briefing has nothing to do with the financing of SOE "Medical Procurement of Ukraine" in 2021. In simple words - this is the business plan of the company for the year.
At the same time, according to the Budget Code of Ukraine, after the adoption of the State Budget, there are no more than 45 days to approve the passport of budget programs. Financing of the operational activities of the SOE “Medical Procurement of Ukraine” is included in the passport of the 1400 program. For example, the passport for this program in 2020 was approved in June.
To work from the beginning of the year until the approval of the passport, the State Treasury Service of Ukraine allows to work no more than 45 days under the Temporary plan for the use of budgetary funds - that is until February 15, 2021.
Without the approved and working the Temporary plan for the use of budgetary funds no financial obligations are formed for the protected items of expenditure of the enterprise. If it is not there and the passport of the budget program starts working, as last year, from June - the previous period is not covered. Wages, rent, other obligations are not provided. If it is, these obligations are covered when the passport of the budget program will be approved.
We sent the Temporary plan for the use of budgetary funds on December 21, 2020, and re-sent it on December 31, 2020. Unfortunately, it was rejected by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. Thus, now we do not have any financial document confirming our obligations. Therefore, it blocks our work.
Maksym Stepanov, “The Ministry of Health of Ukraine considers the activities of SOE "Medical Procurement of Ukraine" inefficient. SOE "Medical Procurement of Ukraine" did not purchase 103 positions out of 483 positions - 20%. In the cardio group, almost everything failed. SOE "Medical Procurement of Ukraine" leaves children with cancer without medicines"
Manipulation.
Any procurement requires detailed planning and, most importantly, time to find alternative solutions in case something goes wrong. At the same time, the list of goods for purchase was brought to us at the beginning of June 2020, and for ARV therapy - at the beginning of September 2020.
Per the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine №478 of June 12, 2020, we were forced to agree on all technical, quality, and other characteristics of goods for purchase, as well as draft agreements with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. We said that such a decision was illegal and would take time.
For some groups of goods, the approval of technical requirements lasted from two weeks to a month or more. Therefore, we were able to announce some of them, including goods in the field of cardiovascular diseases, only in mid-September 2020.
The tender procedures last more than 2.5 months. According to the Law of Ukraine "On Public Procurement", the procedure is re-announced if one or less bidders leave. Thus, we have to re-announce twice - each procedure lasts 30 days. If they do not take place - a negotiated procedure, which can be announced 10 days after the end of the second tender. If after receiving the documents from the Ministry of Health we announce the procedures in mid-September 2020, then we can fully enter into negotiations only at the beginning of December.)
Any professional procurement specialist, and even a "good entrepreneur" knows that a month before the end of the budget year - this is critically low. Especially if there is only one manufacturer of this product in the world, who has a lockdown in its country, which makes it difficult to prepare and send original documents from a non-resident, as well as the medicine is not registered in Ukraine. According to our calculations, we did not have 1 month to successfully complete purchases for these items. That is exactly the one month that the Ministry of Health of Ukraine spent bureaucratically imitating the approval of documents.
By the way, our procurement budget this year amounted to UAH 9.8 billion. We managed to save up to 3.8 billion UAH taxpayers' money. We also work with manufacturers such as Pfizer and AstraZeneca. Even starting late from the fault of the Ministry of Health – we have made it possible and impossible to purchase key medicines and goods. The part of these goods and medicines are already in warehouses and waiting to be delivered to the regions and the other part - has to be delivered in 2021. As for some goods, such as protective suits and gowns, masks, protective gloves purchased to prevent coronavirus disease, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine still cannot determine where and for which costs to store these goods, as well as to transport them to the regions.
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Finally, we note the possibility of suspending the SOE "Medical Procurement of Ukraine" from the purchase of vaccines. We are used to acting transparently and openly. Therefore, we declare that the SOE "Medical Procurement of Ukraine" can contract vaccines from the key global manufacturers. Ukraine needs to get a portfolio of vaccines, and we can compile it. And we don't need 9 months for that. To do this, we need to be able to work without undue pressure from the Minister of Health of Ukraine.